[Article] Luas accident investigated

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0524/luas.html

Luas accident investigated
Thursday, 24 May 2007 21:52
An investigation is underway into an accident in which a man fell under a Luas carriage in Dublin earlier this evening.

It is understood a man injured his leg in the accident at the Jervis Street stop at around 6.30pm.

He was taken to the Mater Hospital with minor injuries.

The Luas service on the Red Line has now returned to normal.

stovelid

I saw a very drunk guy try to roll onto the Luas (lying down) at Jervis a few months ago . Everyone had to tell the driver to stop as he had closed the door and tried to pull off.

I hope it wasn't the same fella again.

Stark

Possibly he was drunk. Possibly he was pushed or shoved. The crowds to get on the Luas at Jervis can be fairly nasty at rush hour.

carrotcake

A friend of mine called me at the time of the accident. It was some lad sitting on the side of the tracks, drinking a can.

Stark

Ah, an "idiot gets his" story then. Those ones always make me smile.

stovelid

Today FM must have chuffed. First luas accident involving a person and it's right outside their office

monument

carrotcake wrote:

A friend of mine called me at the time of the accident. It was some lad sitting on the side of the tracks, drinking a can.

I've seen people sitting down with their legs out over the platform before.

However, can anybody confirm this is actually what happened?

January

Apparently, according to the indo, he ran accross the tracks to catch the luas on the other side and got clipped by the tram, getting his leg caught in the wheel block.

stovelid

adrieanne__x wrote:

Apparently, according to the indo, he ran accross the tracks to catch the luas on the other side and got clipped by the tram, getting his leg caught in the wheel block.

Remarkably intelligent chap, if so, given they are like every 7 minutes.

talkingclock

A potential candidate for the Darwin Award?

Victor

Some respect please lads.

highdef

Respect for who??? The silly twat that couldn't be bothered to look left and right before crossing the street?

KTRIC

Strangely enough last Saturday a drunk woman was hit by the Luas at the Four Courts platform. We all had to get out at Smithfield and walk up. She wasn't injured but she was out of her little alcoholic homeless head.

DublinWriter

KTRIC wrote:

Strangely enough last Saturday a drunk woman was hit by the Luas at the Four Courts platform. We all had to get out at Smithfield and walk up. She wasn't injured but she was out of her little alcoholic homeless head.

Was is it about the Hewey that attracts winos? Everytime I pass either the Jervis or Abbey St. stops there's at least one guy there out of his mind on just a can of Dutch Gold.

Add to that the numpties who race across the tracks without looking to catch them...THEY'RE EVERY FIVE MINUTES FOR FECK SAKE! Are they really that stupid to bet five minutes of their lives for basically, their lives?

January

DublinWriter wrote:

Was is it about the Hewey that attracts winos? Everytime I pass either the Jervis or Abbey St. stops there's at least one guy there out of his mind on just a can of Dutch Gold.

Add to that the numpties who race across the tracks without looking to catch them...THEY'RE EVERY FIVE MINUTES FOR FECK SAKE! Are they really that stupid to bet five minutes of their lives for basically, their lives?

They could atleast time it so the Luas is stopped before they run across the track, they don't really go that fast when pulling into platforms now do they?

dudara

Jervis street, especially heading out of town, is a nasty nasty stop. I hate using it the rare times I get the red line Luas.

It's crowded to the point of pushing and does not attract a fairly pleasant customer base. But given the amount of delinquents around that part of town, I'm not really surprised that there was an accident.

havana

highdef wrote:

Respect for who??? The silly twat that couldn't be bothered to look left and right before crossing the street?

For the man injured in the accident, who happens to be a real gentleman, not a 'silly twat' by any stretch of the imagination!

positron

I was there that evening, and I saw it as it happened.

I was on the other platform, and as the Tallaght bound Luas was coming into the platform, there were a few people crossing the tracks - it’s not unusual as it’s a very busy road there.

The LUAS driver honked about 30 meters before entering the raised platform area and there were a few people walking across the tracks about 50 or 60 meters ahead, there was a woman, probably in her thirties or forties, and a man in his late sixties / early seventies, wearing a rather worn-out looking suit. He was not walking brisk to be honest, didn't look to be that well. He responded to the sound of the horn, he was only a meter away from the platform anyway, and the Luas kept coming in at the normal speed, decelerating. This gentleman was trying to climb on to the platform, but he stumbled and by then the Luas was there, the driver honked again, Luas hits the man on his side, driver slams the breaks, but by then (and luckily) the man has fallen sideways on to the platform, face down. His left leg however was awkwardly caught just above the knee, between the side of the Luas and the edge of the platform.

The woman who crossed the track ahead of the old man was crying and trying to console him, who is now lying face down on the platform with the leg stuck - probably a relative.

Emergency services were on-site in about four minutes, and when I left to catch my train, they were trying to tilt the Luas using pneumatic (?) lift (?) thingee (!!).

I would not blame neither the old man, nor the driver for that accident – it was just that IMHO - an unfortunate accident.

Victor

positron wrote:

This gentleman was trying to climb on to the platform, but he stumbled

Then he was crossing in the wrong place. He should have crossed at the pedestrian crossing.

bullrunner

its not the first time that the luas has hit a passenger there....

a couple of weeks back a woman was hit at the stop....now to be fair she bent down and leaned forward just as it was stopping (she was one of them alco-junkies that you regularily see there). she went down like she'd been hit by a sniper...all screaming and crying. When the 2 guards (that just happened to be on the luas) got off to see was she ok...miraculously she was fine!...all the crying and screaming stopped straight away.

According to 'official' luas records there have only been 6 incidents involving luas and pedestrians since the luas was launced...from this thread alone there are 3 seperate incidents...makes me wonder if the Luas are not reporting all incidents??

steve-o

Victor wrote:

Then he was crossing in the wrong place. He should have crossed at the pedestrian crossing.

Is that the stop where the platforms aren't directly opposite each other? He may have stepped off a normal curb and not noticed the high platform on the opposite side until he'd crossed.

Stark

More likely he expected the Luas to brake for him.